HP CEO Speaks about PSC at Comdex

Carly Fiorina with LeMieux, PSC's Terascale Computing System, in the background. PHOTO: Tom Lobaugh, Westinghouse

On Nov. 19, Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina delivered the keynote speech at Comdex in Las Vegas and spoke about PSC as a model for HPCC research:

I think if you look beyond the distractions of our day, you will actually see a new breed of company emerging, companies that are making the tough choices, streamlining, but not backing off of their core purpose. And so, I want to focus the rest of our time on what these kinds of organizations are doing because they are solving real and often impossible-seeming problems, from the tiniest to the most massive in scale, let's look at some of the ways they're using technology to improve business, to enhance life and to build our future.

We'll start really small with scientists who are studying complex interactions at the molecular level. Say hello to the Terascale Computing System or TCS. It's humming in a building near Carnegie Mellon University at the Pittsburgh Supercomputing Center. Using the world's largest public computing system, scientists are creating simulations of molecular activity. And what hangs in the balance of this research are better designs for artificial organs and cures and treatments for diseases like diabetes or glaucoma.

And to put this in perspective, the floor space of the TCS is about the size of an NBA basketball court. It requires 14 miles of cable, it has the computing power to perform 6 trillion calculations every second. That's roughly equivalent to having 10,000 PCs hooked together and working on the same problem. And the TCS runs on HP Alpha server technology. So, this is the case where technology is making something very new possible. Scientists all over the world can tap into this massive public resource to perform research that will inform everything from disease prevention to disease cure, from storm forecasting to understanding the earth's magnetic field. Most of the research is focused on critical questions that are 10 or 20 years from being answered.

The full transcript of Ms. Fiorina's speach is available on-line:
http://www.hp.com/hpinfo/newsroom/press_kits/2002/comdex/transcript.html

See also:
Insights from Terascale Computing with LeMieux

Contacts:

Michael Schneider
Pittsburgh Supercomputing Center
schneider@psc.edu
412.268.4960

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